Greetings Dear Olympic
We woke this morning well rested. Soon we were well groomed and well fed too. Believing that we were needed at the Ferry Station at 10:30 for Customs we hit the road and made our way to Victoria. On the road, we picked up another hitch-hiker, Rob, who was on his way to a 10 year olds birthday party just 15 minutes down the road. We let him out and continued on our own way. We arrived at the Ferry Station right on time! Or…so we thought. Turned out, Melissa had misinterpreted her memory and took departure time to mean arrival time; in that case, we were actually an hour and a half late. We tucked our tail in between our legs (Melissa with greater shame) and prepared to take the 3:00 ferry. However, today we were dealing with U.S. customs and they still had room on the ferry (clearly, since Melissa had reserved a spot for Navajo) and they had a desire to fill it. Melissa ran to the ticket window, purchased a ticket, Mike was cleared by customs and soon we were loading Nav-E onto the ferry! Yay!
The ferry ride was a little rough. Mike sat with eyes closed trying to avoid sickness while Melissa gazed out the large window admiring the approaching Olympic Mountains. We disembarked in Port Angeles, WA and made our way to the Olympic Mountain National Park visitor center. A kind gentleman at the center helped us plan out the rest of our day so we were free to make our way into town to purchase gasoline and groceries. Our necessities taken care of we hopped on the 101 and made our way toward Crescent Lake and the ultimate destination of Mora Campground.
Having less desire to see the lake and greater desire to see whales, we took the suggestion of a Volunteer Park Ranger we had met a couple days ago and made our way toward the North West most point of the lower 48. Just as we were approaching desired destination, we were faced with a decision. The NW point of the U.S. and the potential to see gray whales among others is on Native American Lands, cost: $10 just to drive through and potentially see awesome things through the thick fog…hmmm. We chose no and made our way back toward the park and campground of the evening. Fortunately, this road did provide a wonderful photo opportunity, so not all was a loss: see for yourself!
After playing the fish, we were back on the 101 heading toward Mora campground where we would find a wonderful camping spot under the canopy of large, rainforest trees and mosses. With the tent happily assembled we made our way to Realto Beach. On the way, Mike spotted two Bald Eagles! Once on the beach we made our way through the thick line of driftwood and out onto the black rock beach. The sky was completely overcast and a thick fog engulfed us and other beach visitors. It was gray. Yet, the waves crashed and the rocks grated on one another leaving the visitor blessed with the sounds of might and strength. We were overcome by the warrior-like beauty of the beach in its current state, so enjoyed some wandering and exploring.
A full and exciting day behind us we crawled into our tent and had the most perfect night sleep: fog and a rainforest canopy, nothing else screams for rest in the same way.
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